Experimental Effects on the Choice of Books Borrowed by Public Library Adult Patrons

Value Added: Book Covers Provide Additional Impetus for Academic Library Patrons to Check Out Books

“…29 His 1981 replication of the study in Kingston, Jamaica, showed that the presence of a dust jacket was one of the devices that had an effect on patron selection of books. 30 In 1990, Lador shared his anecdotal observation from the Bibliothèque Municipale de Lausanne, Switzerland, that books with vivid covers circulated more, but he limited his study to the effects on circulation of placing books in a prominent display location; books on display circulated at a rate ten times higher than books in the stacks. 31 School librarians have also found positive correlations between vivid covers and circulation.…”

Face Out: The Effect of Book Displays on Collection Usage

“…(Bezawada, Balachander, Kannan, & Shankar, 2009, pp. 8-9) Despite their prevalence when dealing with the business world, only a few studies have documented the impact of book exhibits on circulation in libraries, and most of these studies were performed in public libraries during the 1980s (e.g., Goldhor, 1981;Long, 1986). Today, many public libraries routinely use book exhibits to highlight their books.…”

Informational Picture Books in the Library: Do Young Children Find Them?

“…Generally, displayed adult books circulate more than nondisplayed titles (Goldhor, 1972(Goldhor, , 1981Baker and Lancaster, 1991) particularly if located in prime locations (Baker, 1986b) or are face front (Long, 1987), simply because they are more visible and accessible (Baker). Size of the collection is a factor in that larger libraries may need to help borrowers narrow choices while smaller libraries may not (Baker).…”